Panic buying hits Jakarta as govt announces first Covid-19 cases

A man pushes a supermarket trolley full of toilet paper Monday, March 2, 2020, at Carrefour ITC in Permata Hijau, South Jakarta. Jakartans descended on supermarkets and drugstores after the President announced Indonesia's first confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Monday. - JP

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/ANN): Panic buying hit supermarkets and drugstores across Jakarta on March 2 following President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's announcement on the country's first two confirmed cases of Covid-19.

Many Jakartans shared their experience at crowded supermarkets where customers were buying goods and supplies in bulk for stockpiling, amid concerns over the possibility of a coronavirus outbreak in the capital city.